Oh, one of my favorite topics!
For LIQUOR, as compared to wine, Carrefour by Mark's is the best, unless you want to traipse all the way downtown.
For WINE, Super U (either location) is the best, with Leader Price being a close second, albeit with a limited supply of wines. Carrefour by Mark's is the best on the Dutch side. The Carrefour in Cole Bay does not have a great selection of wines and their prices are VERY high, compared to the one by Mark's. I'm assuming you're talking about fairly generic wines and not something high end.
For AMERICAN products, Carrefour is the best, pretty much any location, although my understanding is that, between the Carrefour at Jordan Village and the one at Porto Cupecoy, the one at JV is vastly superior. The Carrefour in Cole Bay is quicker to get to from Simpson Bay than the one by Mark's.
Remember that for Super U AND for Carrefour, they no longer provide free bags. And you need a coin (US quarter works fine) to release a grocery cart, but you will get your quarter back when you finish. We just try to remember to keep a quarter in the car, so we will have it. They sell large reusable bags at Super U, and I guess at Carrefour, although we haven't purchased any at Carrefour. We have purchased the bags at Super U and brought them home to use and carried them back to SXM in our suitcase, as they take up no space. And it is fun for us to take the Super U bag to our local store and pretend in our minds that we are shopping in SXM!!
Super U has lovely fruits and veggies and outstanding specials on meats. I have never been disappointed with the veggies at Carrefour by Mark's either, though. The Carrefour by Mark's has some nice pre-made items for sale also, like chicken salad, etc.
I do not care for Market Garden and do not normally go there. Their prices I find sky high, compared to the other stores, for produce, booze and wine. The few times I have looked at the meat cases at Market Garden, the meat has not looked good at all to me.
For a very small grocery run, you also have Maho Market. Prices are high there, parking is hit and miss. We only go if we need one or two things. It's close to Beachside Villas, where we stay, and we don't have to go through all the traffic in Simpson Bay. If you're in the main part of SB, for one or two items, I'd probably go to Market Garden, although as I said, I don't care for it, in general.
There is another grocery store which I have not been to since a day or so after they opened after Irma, and cannot remember the name of. It is where the Fresh Market used to be, if you remember that, which is basically on the road toward Orient (but still on the Dutch side). They apparently have a very good selection of US products, but as I said, haven't been there in quite a while.
IF you're like me and enjoy grocery shopping, go out and explore!! (I know, this is about where Pat screams and covers her face with her hands!
) Find something different that you would never find at your local grocery store!
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